Bearing box for mine cars



June 5, 1923. 1,457,384

w. R. MILLER BEARING BOX FOR MINE CARS Filedsept, 15. 1921 2sheets-sheet 1 fg Q l [6 l////l///////////////./ an tu ff /7 ff l a @a@www Chroma 43o June 5, 1923. 1,457,384

W. R. MILLER BEARING BOX FOR MINE CARS Fil'ed Sept. 15 1921 2Sheets-Sheet 2 4 jrg v :ELE- 5 Patented June 5, 1923. p

UNiTED "STATES WILLIAM R. MILLER, OF PARK PLACE, PENNSYLVANIA.

BEARrNGlBox roR MINE CARS.

Application ledseptember 15, 1921. Serial No. 501,009.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. MHLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Park Place, in the county of Schuylkill and' State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1nBearing Boxes for Mine Cars; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact 'de-4 scription of the invention, such as willen-y able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to an improved bearing box for use in connectionwith mine cars and one object of the invention is to provide a bearingbox so constructed `that it may be mounted upon a longitudinally ex.-tending under-beamof the mining car without it being necessary to passbolts up through the bottom of the car. At the present time, it iscustomary to secure the bearing boxes by means of bolts which pass uthrough the bottom of the. car and throug the'sheet metal body portionof the car. When it is necessary to renew the ysheet metal body portion,it is then necessary to form holes in the sheet'metal so that thesecuring bolts may pass through theml and it has been found to beexceedingly V'difficult to properly placethese holes. By'means of theimproved bearing box disclosed in the ac companying drawing, the boltsmay pass transversely through the under-beam of the car and thereforethe sheet metal body portion of the car can be renewed'without'it beingnecessary to remove the securing bolts for the bearing boxes. 4

Another object of the invention is lto provide a bearing box in whichthe end portions of the brass bearing block will lextend through theside portions of the box or housing where they may be readily :seen anddanger of their not being removed at the proper time avoided. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide improved means for `holding thebrass bearing block against movement longitudinally of theaxle andagainst rotary move-I ment about the axle.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type ofbearing box having the box or housing proper positioned beneath asupporting bar with which the end portions of the lbox or housing areremovably and pivotally connected, the box lor housing being soconstructed that no special care is necessary in putting the box orhousingin place.

Another object of the invention is to provide the box or housing with animproved construction -providing pockets or compartments 1n whichlubricant applying brushes may be placed, a brush being only placed in'one compartment and this brush applying the lubricant to the sideportions of the axle.

p Another object of the linvention is to soV constructv the supportingbarvand housing that the lubricating'oil may befed through a passageformed in the supporting bar and drop down onto a partition above thebrush, the partition being provided with a groove sothatthe oil will befed onto the brush and absorbed by this brush. v Another object of theinvention is to yprovide a bearingbox which can be readily applied tolacar body and which will be securely held in operative position but maybe very readily taken apart for cleaning or repair purposes and veryeasily and quickly put together. y

. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

.Figure l is a view in side elevation showing the improved bearing inposition for use.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation showing 'the structure of Fig. lbut looking at the inner side thereof instead of the outer side.4lFigure 3 isa longitudinal sectionalview through the structure of Figs.l and 2.

Figure 4 is Ia transverse sectional `view takenA along` the line 4--4 ofFig. 1.'

Figure is a` transverse sectional view taken along the line 5--5 of Fig.l. f

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 6 6 of Fig.3; y Figure 7 is a perspective view of the supportingbar which issecured upon the underbeam of the oar body.

` Figure 8 is a perspectveview of the brass bearing block. Figure 9 is aperspective view of the box orfhousing carried by the supporting bar.

Figure l0 Vis v4a perspective view of the spring which holds-the brushlin proper engagement with the axle. n y This improved Vbearing is foruse in connection with a mine car having a body portion'indicated ingeneral by the numeral l and having at each side a longitudinallyextending underbeam 2.V The axles which means ot the improved bearingboxes, it

being understood that one ot the bearing boxes will be provided t'oreach end portion of the axle.

This bearing is provided Lwitlra supporting bar 3 which is U-shaped incross scction or end elevationas shown in Figs. le and 5 and has itsside walls l extending up along the sides of the underbeam 2. Securingbolts 5 are passed through the walls Il and underbeain 2 and will thusserve to se'- curely but releasably hold the supporting bar in placeFrom an inspection otFig-s. 4f and it will be readily seen that the bearings may be easily removed without disturbing the sheetmetal bodyportion ot the car and also that the sheet metal body portion ot' thecar may bereplaced without thebearings beingV disturbed.

W'hen a. coal car'is in use, it isf customary to shift the same outV ofa horizontal position so that the coal may readily pass out of the carand this would place undue strain upon the bolt side which extendstransverselfy" through the underbeam 2. Therefore, the supporting bar 3has-been provided' with a transversely extendingv rib 6 whichisrectangular in cross section as shown in Fig. 3 and is positioned in acorrespondingly shaped groove 7 :tormed'inthe underbeam. rlhe supportingbar will thus be held against movement longitudinally of the underbeamand strain willv be removed from the securing bolts.

The brass bearing bloclrS which is shown in perspective in Fig. 8isplacedb'eneat-h' the supporting bar and will rest upon the'axle 9 asshown in Fig. 3. This b'earinglblock 8 is positioned between the stripsV10' which extend transversely ot the supporting bar and these strips 10are provided with finger extensions 11 which lit into the recesses 12tormedin the V bearing block. It willthu's be seenthat the bearingblocks will be securely held against movement longitudinally of the axleand will also b'e held a-gainst'any tendency to turn with the axle; Oneend ot the bearing block is engaged by a depend- Y ing flange 13 whichextends from the inner side of the support-ing bar. This flange 13serves not only to assist. in holding` the block against longitudinal'movement but also serves as a guard to prevent dust and tine coal fromworking into the bearings through the inner ends thereof.v The outerside port-ion of this supporting bar iscut as shown at 14e thuspermitting the wheels' 15 to rotate freely without any chance ofbinding. ln order to strengthen the supporting bar and prevent it frombeing weakened by this cutout7 there has been provided a.Y strip 16which extends in the corner portion thereof.

rThe housing 17 which is known asthe box is provided with end wallspositioned between the side walls. These side walls are provided'. withcutouts 18" to receive the axles and permit the ends of the brassbearing blocks to extend through these inner and outer sides` of thehousing or box. lt will thus be seen that these ends ot the brassbearing blocks can be readily seen and easily inspected to ascertainwhether or not they have worn a sutiieient amount to need renewing.inwardly extending sleeves 19 exf tend from the upper corner portions ofthe side walls and above the upper edges of' the endjvallof the housingand will lit against opposite ends of the sleeves 20 which extenddownwardly from the supporting bar 3; It will thus be seen that when thesecuring pins 21 are put in place, the housing will be ses eurely heldinv an operative position but that when desired one oi' the securingpins mayl be removed'and the housing swung downwardly to an inoperativeor open position.

In order to provide compartments in the housing tor carrying a lubricantapplying brush, there has been provided partitions and 23; The spacebetweenI the partitions'22 andA 23 Yform the pockets 24 with thepartitions 22 i'orming the lower walls ot the pockets or compartmentsand the partitions' 23 forming the upper walls ot the compartments.These upper walls will each be provided with grooves 24 which are solocated that the housing may be put in4 place with either side outermostandl one. of the. grooves 2i will be` positioned beneath" an oil passage25 formedU in the outer side pore" tion of the supportingbar. Vhen oilLis fed through` the passage' 25, it will drop down. into the groove.24"beneath `it or upon the upper partition 23 adjacent this groove andwill pass through the groove and down" onto the' applying brushA 261positioned in this' poeletor compartment. While two'of these pocketsorcompartments are provided, there will be only one brush provided as itis only necessary' to apply oil toene side ofif'the axle. The twopockets are provided for cons venience in applying the housing. Thebrush 26 is formed Jfrom layers offelt which will readily. absorb theoil andthese. layers are securely connected in any desiredniain ner sothat-a good brush will be provided: ln order to hold the brush in properengage ment with the axle, there has been provided a strip 27 which isplaced in the pocketor compartment before the brush is put in place. Aspring strip 28 is secured to this strip 27 and will serve to move thestrip 27 outwardly land thus apply pressure tof the brush to'torce itoutwardly andph'old the brush in proper engagement vwith the axle;

When thebearingis in use, it will'be assembled as shown and the bearincrblock 8 will rest upon the axle. As the axzlerotates with the wheels,the oil will'be applied? toit-he axle and thus the axle will be keptvery'well Sii lubricated. sWhen it is necessary to replenish the oil, itis simply necessary to feed this oil through the oil passage 25. Thebrush can thus be thoroughly soaked with oil and further a surplussupply of oil may be supplied by pouring in enough oil to lill thecompartment in which the brush is placed. When it is necessary toreplace the brush or when it is desired to clean the housing or brush,one o f the pins 21 can be removed and the housing swung downwardly. Thecleaning can then be performed and if desired a new brush put in placeand the housing then swung upwardly to the operative position andsecured. hen it is desired to remove the brass bearing block or bushingblock as it may be called, the car can be jacked up afte'r the housinghas been released and swung downwardly to the inoperative position. Thiswill move the strips and nger extensions out of engagement with thebushing block and the block can then be removed and a new one. put inplace. The car can then be lowered and when the block 8 is in the properposition, the housing can be again swung upwardly to the operativeposition and secured. It will be further noted that if desired, the bodyportion of the car can be raised after the bolts 5 have been removed andthe wheels, axles and bearings removed bodily from the car.

I claim:

l. A n axle mounting comprising a support, a housing having its endportions pivotally and removably connected with said support wherebyeither end of said housing may be released and swung downwardly to aninoperative position, said housing having end walls recessed to receivean axle, and upper and lower partitions in the side portions of saidhousing forming brush-receiving pockets extending longitudinally in theside portions of the housing and intermediate the height thereof andbetween the end walls thereof.

2. The structure of claim4 l having each upper partition provided withan oil conducting groove leading to its edge, the supportl beingprovided with an oil passage whereby oil may be fed through the passageinto the housing above the upper partition and after falling upon theupper partition passed through the groove into the brushreceivingpockets.

In testimony whereof. I have hereunto setl my hand.

WILLIAM R. MLLER.

